South
Africa, country of sunshine and braai. Who would
have thought that a four-bedroom mansion in Sandhust, Sandton priced
at +/- R3-million in 1997 will now be selling for R20-million?

Firzt Realty Company, has calculated that a buyer interested in
a R5.5-million Sandton home would need a monthly salary of
R175960 to pay the R52788 monthly repayments over 20-years. And
it is happening;

General manager spent R26-million for his home in Morningside,
Extension 40

Resident Nicola Gnodde splashed out R17-million for a home
in Woolston Road, Westcliff

"Return on investment for the more up-market properties
has slipped as the ratio between price and rental returns widens.
Currently, estimates are that returns in the 'conventional' rental
market have dropped from 10%, realised at the height of the property
boom, to around 4% to 5%. Gerhard Kotzé, CEO of the
ERA South Africa property group. Buy-to-let investors
set their sights lower

After all the media hype last year encouraging people to become
FICA compliant, the storm seems to have died down a
little However, the implications of the Financial Intelligence Centre
Act (FICA) are ongoing and will be a part of just about any financial
transaction that we engage in. FICA regulations are linked closely
to SARS. If your tax returns are not up to date, SARS can prevent
the deal going through until all obligations in terms of taxation
are met. Work closely with your Estate Agent is the advice
from Assist2Sell Estate Agency; News from  Assist2Sell
Somerset West

The South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners will
host its 2007 convention at the Theatre on the Track on 20 April
2007 and invites CyberProp.com subscribers to attend. The primary
objective is to look at how the property industry has transformed
in the past ten years We are encouraging the public to attend
the convention should they be interested in property development
in South Africa Jacky Cresteil. Read more about your personal
invitation under Have Fun

Close
to an investment crisis - that's the effect on the property sector of
the Public Investment Corp 's (PIC) R2,3bn purchase of listed fund CBS.

The deal will reduce the listed sector's R91bn market capitalisation.
Investors to whom the PIC is paying R12/share cash will probably put buying
pressure on the remaining listed funds, by seeking to reinvest about R1,5bn.

>> Slashing your bond

With
household debt at a high and uncertainty about interest rates looming,
homeowners need to learn to save long-term. One way you can start to save
some cash is to pay your bond off faster.

With good economic conditions now prevailing in South Africa, most homeowners
are seeing their annual earnings increase year-on-year ahead of the current
inflation rate...

>> Soaring Cape property prices

Anyone
sceptical about Cape Town residential propertys ability to continue
to increase in value well ahead of the inflation rate should take a look
at the sales figure for February.

According to Bill Rawson, chairperson of Rawson Properties, the latest
Residential Property Price Ranger figures show that February turn-over
and average sales values were the highest ever...

>> Sellers happy to hold out for their asking price

Joburgs
property market has cooled  but the citys top suburbs are
still attracting buyers willing to splash out more than R10-million for
a luxury home.

Estate agents this week said the two interest rate hikes this year have
not hamstrung the citys new super- rich entrepreneurs and corporate
executives and that some were splashing out between R10-million and R26-million
for prime property...

>> Business as usual for Spire Property Management

Spire
Property Management has waved goodbye to Paramount Property Fund, which
they put together from scratch and built up to over R3-bn of property
assets, following its recent acquisition by Investecs listed fund,
Growthpoint.

It was sad to say farewell to Paramount, as it has been the prime
focus of our attention over the past 5 years, says Spires
Managing Director, Bruce Kerswill. We also had to say goodbye to
several of our staff members, who moved across to IPG to continue managing
the portfolio...

>> Focus on Somerset West, Western Cape, South
Africa

Named
after Lord Charles Somerset in 1819, Somerset West has thrived and is
now the commercial and residential capital of the Helderberg Basin whilst
maintaining its village atmosphere.

Lying on the slopes of the Helderberg, the town is 6km inland from the
False Bay coast and the resort towns of Strand and Gordons Bay...

Buy-to-let property investors are setting their sights on the lower
end of the market, driving up demand in residential suburbs that are ripe
for refurbishment and new developments.

Gerhard Kotzé, CEO of the ERA South Africa property group, explains:

"Conventional investment ideas with regards to buy-to-let real estate
are being turned upside down. The old adage that if you buy expensively,
you can sell expensively, no longer applies...

>> Have Fun - SAIBPP 2007 Convention

THE
SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF BLACK PROPERTY PRACTITIONERS (SAIBPP) ANNOUNCES
ITS REPOSITIONING IN THE PROPERTY INDUSTRY

Property in South Africa is one of the fastest growing sectors in the
South African economy with massive developments occurring over the past
couple of years.

With this changing environment and the introduction of industry charters,
it is fast becoming critical to ensure that black practitioners are represented
and play a meaningful role in the mainstream economy

>> News from - Assist2Sell Somerset West

FICA
AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

After all the media hype last year encouraging people to become FICA
compliant, the storm seems to have died down a little However, the
implications of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) are ongoing
and will be a part of just about any financial transaction that we engage
in...

>> Press release - First ever woman CEO appointed to major city
law firm in Cape Town

Herold
Gie Attorneys, established in 1894 and one of the Cape Towns most
respected law firms, has appointed top property attorney Linda Jordaan
as its CEO, successor to Richard Moffat, with effect from March 2007...

>> Two months to go to the largest worldwide real estate exhibition
- SIMA07.

The ninth edition of the Madrid Real Estate Exhibition,
taking place from 29 May to 2 June, will cover a total of 100 000 square
meters. SIMAs International content will be distributed in two areas:
SIMAs Hall I (International Institutional and Investment Pavilion,
and SIMAs Inmotur (International Holiday Homes Pavilion), an area
devoted to second homes in foreign countries where hundreds of property
and property related exhibitors from more than 20 markets will participate...

>> Software at its best!

Cell Phone enquiries from the public

Buyers driving past your advertising boards will be able to see an unique
Internet Number allocated to the specific property. They will then SMS
that number to 35476 and will receive an SMS back with all the details
of the property. At the same time the agent / agency will also be informed
of a potential buyer. How's that for technology working for you! The cost
- mahala! Free to all CyberAgent subscribers.

Here's a diagram on the way this process will work...

Agent captures the details of the property and pictures into CyberAgent

Agent updates the property to the Internet

The Internet server sends back a unique number for that property

Agent puts up his "For Sale" board together with our SMS
board

Potential buyer sees the "SMS" board and SMS's the unique
number to the Internet server

The Internet server sends back an SMS with all the property details
and a link to the website where he/she can view pictures on the propert